Orange-Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes

     Greetings! Today I am joining in with the group "From Our Dinner Table" and we are sharing a topic that is very near and dear to my heart, cupcakes. Cupcakes are small, customizable, little treats that are the perfect vehicle for endless creativity. I like them because they can be fancy, but they are also extremely easy. Like these, two sugared cranberries and a sprig of mint and you have an understated but elegant cupcake. 

      You won't ever catch me using tub frostings, I wouldn't even serve that to my worst enemy. A cake mix however I can doctor up pretty easily and have no problem using. Melted butter and milk are subbed in, and in this recipe vanilla extract and some of my favorite orange blossom water. You can make the recipe without, but I think it's worth investing in a bottle, I put it in almost anything I make that involves fruit. 

     The next item to make is the cranberry sauce, it really is fairly simple but it is another step or two, and then, of course, the cooling time, so if you have a bottled or canned cranberry option you like that works great in these as well. If you do make yours from scratch make sure and simmer long enough that the berries start to collapse before adding the cornstarch to thicken. The mixture will thicken pretty well on its own but the cornstarch at the end helps it to not seep into the cupcakes and make them soggy. 

     Now let's talk about that frosting. It's a bit unique I know, but trust me on this one. You get the nice pop of sugar you like with frosting, without it being cloying. And paired with the tang from the cranberry filling? Perfection! So here's how it works, the pudding mixture needs a lot more milk to be pudding and we don't give it that. We make it a thick paste. That thick paste adds a subtle flavor and it helps to stabilize the frosting so you get a nice whipped and fluffy treat without needing as much sugar to stabilize it. don't think this is a healthier option, there are still several cups of sugar in there, but it helps cut the tooth-achingly sweet, sugar-bomb, flavor of it all. And whatever you do, do NOT substitute the white chocolate pudding for another flavor, not even vanilla. Vanilla pudding has a lot of artificial flavors in it and it just isn't tasty. 

Delicious Cupcake Recipes

• Caramel Irish Cream Cupcakes from Palatable Pastime
• Grapefruit Cupcakes from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Orange Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes from Pandemonium Noshery
• Peppermint Snowflake Cupcakes from That Recipe
• Sugar Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream from Art of Natural Living

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Cranberry Orange White Chocolate Cupcake Recipe 

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1 stick butter, melted

1 c. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. Orange Blossom Water

Cranberry Filling

6 oz. fresh cranberries

1 orange

3/4 c. water

1/2 c. sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

White Chocolate Frosting 

2 boxes White Chocolate Pudding mix

1/2 c. milk

2 sticks butter, softened

3 - 4 c. powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. Vanilla extract

Sugared Cranberries

Strips of Orange Zest

Mint Sprig

Directions

Combine the cranberries, the zest, and juice of the orange, water, and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the cranberries break down. Mash some with a potato masher. Combine the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water until there are no lumps. Stir into the cranberry mixture and stir until thick. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. 

Mix everything with the cake mixture together and stir until the lumps are removed. Place in 20 muffin liners and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until the cake is cooked through. Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely. 

Once you are ready to assemble when the cake and cranberry mixture are cool start on the frosting. Combine the milk and both pudding mixture and stir to combine completely. It will get really thick, don't worry, that is what you want. Beat the butter until fluffy. Add the really thick pudding mixture and beat again for 2 minutes. Add half the powdered sugar and the vanilla extract and beat again. Add the other half of the powdered sugar and continue beating until fluffy. 

Remove the middle of each cupcake and fill with the cranberry filling. Top with a swirl of the frosting and top that with two cranberries, orange zest, and a sprig of mint if using.